Hi,

This is my first posting on the ERAU Blog, with many more to come.  My name is Austin Troya, and I am currently a high school senior at Westview High School in San Diego, CA.  I am the Admin officer in our NJROTC unit, which will be a good lead-in to my joining AFROTC at Embry Riddle.  Next year I will be starting as a mechanical engineering major at ERAU.  I enjoy theatre production a lot and work at my church for about 12 hours per week doing either audio, lights, or video.  This week and last week, I will have put in about 60 hours as we set up, rehearsed, and produced the Sound of Music.  I am running lights for the show (the picture shows me with my light board).

I’d like to talk a little about my experience with Embry Riddle so far.  I first heard about Embry Riddle at the end of my Freshman year in high school since one of our other ROTC cadets was going there.  My family and I began emailing Doug Dickey not long after I was accepted in December.  He and the other admissions staff members helped us figure out financing, scheduled a visit with the ambassador program, and everything else necessary to prepare me for next year.  I recently found out that I had been awarded an AFROTC scholarship, which is part of the reason I am joining the program.  As of now, I have everything lined up for August with the exception of maybe a few minor details.  I look forward to the summer and especially mid-August when I will move into the dorm and begin my college experience.

When the school year starts, I hope to become involved in intramural soccer and maybe some of the on-campus clubs.  I will also try to take help with shows put on by the Prescott Performing Arts Center.